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Obama limits government access to phone data

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House Speaker John Boehner says any changes can't harm national security

President Barack Obama issues new guidance for intelligence-gathering

An advisory panel recommended in December that government better protect civil liberties

Leaks by Edward Snowden exposed scope of NSA electronic surveillance

After the firestorm over Edward Snowden's disclosure of U.S. surveillance programs, the most contentious aspect revealed by last year's classified leaks will continue under reforms announced Friday by President Barack Obama.

Someone will still collect records of the numbers and times of phone calls by every American.

While access to the those records will be tightened and they may be shifted from the National Security Agency to elsewhere, the storage of the phone metadata goes on.

For that reason, civil libertarians, members of Congress and others complained that Obama failed to go far enough in what his administration labeled as the most comprehensive intelligence-gathering reforms since he took office in 2009.

What's the impact of NSA data collection?

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden poses with German Green party parliamentarian Hans-Christian Stroebele in Moscow on October 31. Stroebele returned from the meeting with a letter from Snowden to German authorities, which was distributed to the media. In it, Snowden said he is confident that with international support, the United States would abandon its efforts to "treat dissent as defection" and "criminalize political speech with felony charges."

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden's refugee document granted by Russia is seen during a news conference in Moscow on August 1. Snowden slipped quietly out of the airport after securing temporary asylum in Russia, ending more than a month in limbo.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, leaves a last-minute news conference at the U.S. Capitol after Russia announced that it would grant Snowden temporary asylum on August 1. "Russia has stabbed us in the back, and each day that Mr. Snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife," he said.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden's father, Lon Snowden, who has adamantly supported his son, talks to reporters in Washington on Tuesday, July 30. He has urged his son to remain in Russia "until we have assurances that he would receive a fair trial."

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Demonstrators in Berlin hold a protest march on Saturday, July 27, in support of Snowden and WikiLeaks document provider Bradley Manning. Both men have been portrayed as traitors and whistle-blowers. Manning was acquitted on July 30 on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, but he was convicted on several other counts and likely faces a lengthy term in a military prison.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, center, speaks with journalists at the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow after meeting with Snowden on Wednesday, July 24. Kucherena said he was in daily contact with Russian authorities about securing permission for Snowden to leave the airport.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden meets with human rights activists and lawyers on July 12 in a transit zone of the Russian airport. It was his first public appearance since he left Hong Kong on June 23. He announced that he was seeking refuge Russia while awaiting safe passage to Latin America, where he has been offered asylum.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Prokhorovka on July 12. Russian officials said Snowden abandoned his effort to seek asylum in the country after Putin warned that he would have to stop leaking information about U.S. surveillance programs if he wanted to stay.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – A woman burns American flags during a protest in support of Bolivian President Evo Morales in front of the U.S. embassy in Mexico City on July 4. Leftist Latin American leaders and activists were fuming after some European nations temporarily refused Morales' plane access to their airspace amid suspicions Snowden was aboard.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Bolivian President Evo Morales holds a news conference at the Vienna International Airport on July 3. He angrily denied any wrongdoing after his plane was diverted to Vienna and said that Bolivia is willing to give asylum to Snowden, as "fair protest" after four European countries restricted his plane from flying back from Moscow to La Paz.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Umbrellas with slogans are lined up before a protest march to the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong on June 15. Snowden was hiding in Hong Kong, where he arrived on May 20 before blowing the lid off the NSA surveillance operation.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Protesters in Hong Kong shout slogans in support of Snowden on June 13. The NSA leaker vowed to fight any bid to extradite him from Hong Kong.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Graffiti sympathetic to Snowden is stenciled on the sidewalk in San Francisco on June 11.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – An American flag flutters in front of the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong on June 10.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden outs himself on June 9 in the British newspaper The Guardian, which published details of his revelations about the NSA electronic surveillance programs. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said in a video interview.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks 10 photos

Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks10 photos

Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – John Walker ran a father and son spy ring, passing classified material to the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1985. Walker was a Navy communication specialist with financial difficulties when he walked into the Soviet Embassy and sold a piece of cyphering equipment. Navy and Defense officials said that Walker enabled the Soviet Union to unscramble military communications and pinpoint the location of U.S. submarines at all times. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors promised leniency for Walker's son Michael Walker, a former Navy seaman. Click through the gallery to see other high-profile leak scandals the United States has seen over the years.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Military analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers in 1971. The top-secret documents revealed that senior American leaders, including three presidents, knew the Vietnam War was an unwinnable, tragic quagmire. Further, they showed that the government had lied to Congress and the public about the progress of the war. Ellsberg surrendered to authorities and was charged as a spy. During his trial, the court learned that President Richard Nixon's administration had embarked on a campaign to discredit Ellsberg, illegally wiretapping him and breaking into his psychiatrist's office. All charges against him were dropped. Since then he has lived a relatively quiet life as a respected author and lecturer.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Jonathan Pollard is a divisive figure in U.S.-Israeli relations. The former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst was caught spying for Israel in 1985 and was sentenced in 1987 to life imprisonment. The United States and Israel are discussing his possible release as part of efforts to save fragile Middle East peace negotiations, according to sources familiar with the talks.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Wen Ho Lee was a scientist at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico who was charged with 59 counts of downloading classified information onto computer tapes and passing it to China. Lee eventually agreed to plead guilty to a count of mishandling classified information after prosecutors deemed their case to be too weak. He was released after nine months in solitary confinement. Lee later received a $1.6 million in separate settlements with the government and five news agencies after he sued them, accusing the government of leaking damaging information about him to the media.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Members of the Bush administration were accused retaliating against Valerie Plame, pictured, by blowing her cover in 2003 as a U.S. intelligence operative, after her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a series of New York Times op-eds questioning the basis of certain facts the administration used to make the argument to go to war in Iraq.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – In 2007, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was convicted on charges related to the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the case. His 30-month sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush. Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he had no idea who leaked the information.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Aldrich Ames, a 31-year CIA employee, pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 1994 and was sentenced to life in prison. Ames was a CIA case worker who specialized in Soviet intelligence services and had been passing classified information to the KGB since 1985. U.S. intelligence officials believe that information passed along by Ames led to the arrest and execution of Russian officials they had recruited to spy for them.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Robert Hanssen pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 2001 in return for the government not seeking the death penalty. Hanssen began spying for the Soviet Union in 1979, three years after going to work for the FBI and prosecutors said he collected $1.4 million for the information he turned over to the Cold War enemy. In 1981, Hanssen's wife caught him with classified documents and convinced him to stop spying, but he started passing secrets to the Soviets again four years later. In 1991, he broke off relations with the KGB, but resumed his espionage career in 1999, this time with the Russian Intelligence Service. He was arrested after making a drop in a Virginia park in 2001.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Army Pvt. Bradley Manning was convicted July 30 of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos to WikiLeaks, and the counts against him included violations of the Espionage Act. He was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges but acquitted of the most serious charge -- aiding the enemy. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in military prison in 2013.

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Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of details of U.S. government surveillance programs run by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia after initially fleeing to Hong Kong. He has been charged with three felony counts, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act, over the leaks.

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In his 45-minute speech at the Justice Department, Obama unveiled new guidance for intelligence-gathering as well as reforms intended to balance what he called the nation's vital security needs with concerns over privacy and civil liberties.

By making the changes after a review he ordered following the Snowden disclosures, Obama put his signature on the U.S. intelligence operation and helped define his legacy as a chief executive who had promised a more open and transparent government when he entered the White House in 2009.

He outlined a series of steps -- some immediate and some requiring time to work out, possibly with Congress -- that would change some aspects of the NSA collection of phone records and other information but generally leave intact the core and function of existing programs.

Obama also addressed concerns abroad that the United States spies on ordinary people as well as allied leaders. Snowden's disclosures showed U.S. surveillance of personal communications of leaders in Germany, Brazil and other allies.

"The United States is not spying on ordinary people who don't threaten our national security" Obama said, adding that "unless there is a compelling national security purpose, we will not monitor the communications of heads of state and government of our close friends and allies."

Before Obama spoke, a senior administration official who briefed reporters on condition of not being identified said the President's assurances of no further spying on foreign leaders extended only to "dozens" of heads of state and government of U.S. friends and allies.

Initial reaction indicated those favoring robust intelligence gathering agreed with the President. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Obama "took a measured and thoughtful approach," while Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he supported the reforms.

House Speaker John Boehner warned Obama against allowing politics to "cloud his judgment" over maintaining what the Ohio Republican called necessary programs for national security.

"The House will review any legislative reforms proposed by the administration, but we will not erode the operational integrity of critical programs that have helped keep America safe," Boehner said in a statement.

On the other side, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said the speech deserved "an 'A' for effort and probably a 'C' for content," while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told CNN that it was "embarrassing" for a head of state to speak so long and "say almost nothing."

"Unfortunately, today, what we see is very few concrete reforms," said Assange, who noted that Snowden intends to publicly respond to Obama's speech as soon as next week.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the majority Democrats, called Obama's speech an first step in a necessary dialogue on balancing security needs with privacy rights in the digital age.

"The devil is going to be in the details," Sanders said, adding that the discussion will continue for years as technological capabilities expand.

Obama's changes to the controversial NSA telephone bulk collection program disclosed by Snowden require intelligence analysts to get approval from the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court to go into the metadata stored by the agency.

Today, the NSA determines when analysts can examine the metadata, a senior administration official told reporters on condition of not being identified.

"That is no longer an issue that is dealt with solely within the NSA," the official said. "They have to bring it to the FISA court."

In addition, Obama said he ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to work with intelligence officials on finding another place to store the metadata records that include phone numbers and the length of calls, but not content.

Obama also called on Congress to authorize establishment of a new panel of outside advocates to participate in "significant cases" before the secret FISA courts that handle intelligence collection issues.

Another step extended U.S. legal protections involving surveillance to foreign nationals, noted CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, who called the President's speech extraordinary in one way for publicly addressing what had been top-secret programs seven months ago.

However, Sciutto noted Obama's reforms made no mention of losses by U.S. technology businesses around the world due to concerns that customers would be spied on under the programs disclosed by Snowden's leaks.

Some critics on both sides of the political aisle contend collection of such vast amounts of information violates personal privacy.

Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Tom Udall of New Mexico said they intend to continue pushing legislation to limit the metadata collection beyond what Obama proposes.

Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan said that "Congress must do what the President apparently will not: end the unconstitutional violation of Americans' privacy, stop the suspicionless surveillance of our people, and close the era of secret law."

In his speech, Obama argued that national security depended on access to such data as long as it was under proper control and regulation.

"No evidence of abuse has been found involving surveillance programs, but changes are needed in response to legitimate privacy concerns that have been raised, Obama said.

The new guidance he issued declared the United States will not collect intelligence "for the purpose of suppressing or burdening criticism or dissent, or for disadvantaging persons based on their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion."

Offering a historical review of U.S. intelligence gathering, Obama recalled events in American history going back to Paul Revere's famous ride.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks raised the profile and priority of U.S. intelligence efforts, the President said, and now technological advances that allow supercomputers to gather huge amounts of digital data have complicated efforts "to both defend our nation and uphold our civil liberties."

Obama remained critical of Snowden, who is now living under asylum in Russia, following his series of leaks that began last June and transformed the debate on national security surveillance in the post 9/11 era.

"Our nation's defense depends in part on the fidelity of those entrusted with our nation's secrets," Obama said. "If any individual who objects to government policy can take it in their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will never be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign policy."

While the bulk telephone data remains with the NSA for now, Obama wants those records moved out of government hands, though it is uncertain where, a senior administration official said in briefing reporters on condition of not being identified.

Federal courts are divided on NSA telephone data collection. One judge in Washington ruled preliminarily in December that it was probably unconstitutional on privacy grounds. A second judge ruling in another case in New York subsequently found it lawful.

Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden both held jobs that gave them access to some of their country's most secret and sensitive intelligence. They chose to share that material with the world and are now paying for it.